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Wow. This glass keg was a gift from Georgetown's distributor. Its a pretty picture.

So, we went and we conquered. Beveridge Place Pub‘s Georgetown Brewer’s party was certainly a hit, adding interactive fun to an afternoon/evening of drinking.

The night centered around the two year anniversary of Beveridge Place Pub’s new location at the Fauntleroy and California junction. But the hit of the party was Georgetown’s first ever IPA release – Lucille IPA.

Throughout the event, we tweeted on several occasions, our initial reaction to the party and to the beer. Hopefully some of you were listening and high tailed your ass down to Beveridge Place.

But for the rest of you – lets talk beer.

We began our evening with a Black Raven Trickster and a Walking Man IPA. Both beers are very good – but very different. Trickster is now the house beer at Beveridge Place, after unseating perennial powerhouse – Boundary Bay. The beer is extremely hoppy, with a sweet and syrupy complexity. Most would say that this beer closely resembles Cigar City, Southern Tier, and Great Divide schools of citrusy IPA brewing. But add a bit more maltines, as this one finishes up with a caramel sweetness.

Walking Man is a different type of beast. This IPA is all about the bitterness – citrus, pine and herbal aromas. The beer virtually wipes out the malt, though the residual sugars are indicative that the malt was once there (and remains).

Both beers were used as precursors to trying the new Georgetown offering. One sweet and one bitter – we were ready to pounce on whatever Georgetown owners Roger Bialous and Manny Chao threw our way.

We spoke with Roger before the Lucille keg was tapped. Apparently, the namesake of Lucille actually was born from an endearing nickname given to the brewery’s hoe, or rake, used to clean the mash from the brewing system. Unfortunately, in an article on Wednesday, I had assumed that the name came from Lucille Road, a close block or two from the brewery. I was wrong – here is the fact.

Roger also discussed that the new IPA was composed from Centennial, Amarillo and Cascade hops. The plan to create an IPA had been in the mix for Georgetown over the past few years. But recent years have brought the hop shortage, and ensuing price gouge which shut down hoppy ales in the Northwest.

With stabilization in the market (and actually a surplus), more and more brewers can make an IPA – or even an Imperial IPA – nowadays. Thats exactly what Georgetown did this year.

Lucille IPA was crafted to test out on the public over the next few months and see whether or not it might join the normal rotation. Roger tells us that to do so would cause a major shift to the production schedule, as Georgetown does not currently have the capacity to brew another regular rotation ale. But, we will let them figure that out.

Lucille IPA is born from the brew kettle. In my opinion, its exactly what American IPA has been sorely missing in the past few years – since IPA took off.

When we all started drinking IPA we loved the floral aromatic and sugary sweetness that poured from the glass. But, times have changed and each and every brewer has now mimicked exactly that which made IPA famous.

Georgetown took the scent of the brewery on brewing day and condensed it into your glass. Thats right – this IPA is a malt monster. It carries with it an enormous scent of freshly roasted and brewed malt, along with an incredible fruity, pineapple scented hoppiness that undoubtedly results from the addition of Amarillo.

I could not put this glass down. There is something about making a difference in the beer world that makes a beer so darn sexy. Lucille carries that sex appeal. It has everything that beer brewers forgot about when they started figuring out what sold in an IPA. It marries a perfect balance of hop aroma and brew kettle malts.

We hope that the rest of the public agreed and poured praise over Georgetown’s owners for this amazing ale. Georgetown enjoys a wonderful tap listing in the city of Seattle. If they brew Lucille, we will see it across our fair city on a quite regular basis (similar to what we see with Manny’s Pale Ale).

Roger informed us that Georgetown will begin filling growlers of the new IPA in the coming weeks, at the brewery. If you have never visited the brewery – now is the time.

Beveridge Place Pub still has about 12 IPAs on draft for IPApril! Stop by